Just so this thread never dies, I want to add a couple of thoughts/positions:
Mainly, about the idea that aqua-q is all about the links and tips. As Kenji notes above, it was very common in the not too far past to order from a rack, either end. And if your memory goes back like beyond 10 years, you know that ribs were not a, not thing to order at Edith's or any similar place. And if your memory goes really, really back, you remember getting ribs at Boobies from an aquarium--showing, I know with no other evidence, that aquarium style ribs were a bigger thing and also not an exclusively, well how shall I say, urban, thing. If I understand my mother, I think her beloved Sally's in Roger's Park also used an aquarium.
Now, what I think mostly what happened is that rib's, both spares but especially baby-backs, got priced out of the market. Yes, places like Lem's and Honey1, etc., still offer ribs, but at a price that is MUCH higher than the tips. I could be way off base here, but my feeling is that the spread between ribs and tips was not nearly so wide in the good ol' days. All this leads to a vicious circle. If you don't sell a lot of ribs, well, you don't sell a lot of ribs. We all know why. On the converse, Lems, which still has a following for its ribs, does ribs very well.
Think Yiddish, Dress British - Advice of Evil Ronnie to me.